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Vanilla Garlic is my nifty food blog that I tinker at with essays about life and food that I like to think are humorous or thoughtful. I also work as a freelance writer and a cookbook author. Whether I succeed at any of this debatable.

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Sunday, November 12, 2006

I have been planning these for some time as many of you know, but something always got in the way and blocked me from producing them. It started to drive me crazy, but all the wait was worth it in the end. This is a bright, dense, seasonal cupcake full of pop! I decided to call this particular cupcake combo a Penelope, after a friend of mine. Penelope is bright, bubbly, full of spark and always has a smile. Biting into this cupcake an image of her popped into my head and thought that she would truly adore this tasty treat. Its flavors seemed to mimic her personality. Hence, the naming of the Penelope.

I had Rob help me make this one, as my gimp foot kinda prevented me from really hopping all over the kitchen and since I aggravated it during the farmer's market run. Yep, the boy bakes too. You should taste his chocolate bread pudding made with (gasp!) croissants.

Pomegranate molasses gives a bit of squat and density to this cupcake, but it's worth that subtle acidy bite in the back. It's also an ingredient I plan to keep on hand from now on. The acidy cake is amazingly tasty! The cakes were each brushed with a bit of pom juice as well, so each bite brings a lush surprise of flavor.

The frosting was really killing me in the development of this cupcake. At first I went with the idea of lemon, but it seemed to sour and tart. I also knew cream cheese was the way to go, but wanted to avoid that tang, so we moved into a mascarpone cheese instead (Rob's idea), giving this frosting a velvety texture. However, if cream cheese is what you have on hand, I have realized that would work amazing too. It's a matter of taste on that one. As for the tangerine? Sadly I have to thank Starbucks on that, I saw tangerine tea and pom tea drinks and realized that tangerine would really be the bright counterpart I needed.

It's rich, flavorful, and has a sharp bite to it! Hope that you all enjoy this cupcake as much as I do.

Update: I just had another of these with a glass of honey wine (mead), and some dried apricots. Perfection. Pomegranate wine, or a dry red wine would go great with these as well.

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comments:

To Rob,Happy I stuck around to meet you the other day, and good to hear you are taking good care of Garrett... Keep keeping him off that foot! ;)Garrett, I don't have to say how lovely that looks and must taste.xo

The cupcakes sound really tasty and the recipe doesn't appear to be anything too wild for me to try. Except for one thing - I've never heard of pomagrant molasses! Where in the heck can one purchase that anyway?

You are the MASTER of reaching perfect combinations of flavors, texture and looks. Bakery with pomegranate molasses..grate idea ! I used to add pomegranate molasses to sauces for salads.I'll try your recipe : )

Jeni - Pom Molasses can be found at most international food markets, or be made at home with some pom juice and reducing it over heat. Now that I have it I plan to utilize it a lot more for pumpkin soups.

Home Cook - Genius! I totally will use this to braise meat with and make salad dressing!

Found you while browsing Chocklit's blog - and excited to find ANOTHER pomegranate recipe - I have a bowl of them on the kitchen table and was looking forward to find more uses other than decorative - will try to post a picture on my blog when they are done. Wish me luck!

These look really delectable. One question, though -- the frosting ingredients list tangerine *juice* while the directions only mention *zest*. I was thinking both would be good, but pondering quantities.

Thanks for a great recipe! We've been experimenting with pom molasses, found your recipe, and just made these. They're wonderful. Deeeelish! We have a duck soup with pom molasse in it coming up this week on our blog, but your idea of adding it to pumpkin soup is great. Thanks again!

Hey, you're leaving a comment! That's pretty darn cool, so thanks. If you have any questions or have found an error on the site or with a recipe, please e-mail me and I will reply as soon as possible.~Garrett